When a Euro Isn't a Euro

Capital controls are easier to impose than to remove.

March 27, 2013 7:44 p.m. ET

Nothing is ever simple with a euro-bailout, and the Cyprus fiasco is proving that again. On Thursday the tiny island disaster will become the first euro-zone country to impose capital controls since the single currency was introduced. This will spare Cyprus from immediate economic collapse, but the curbs are a worrying precedent.